A day without a China girl is a day wasted
by rike-with-love
Summary: Okikagu week 2018. Day 3: Routine. Sougo is baffled by Kagura who isn't showing up at the park as they promised to. Romance, humour.


Author's notes: Okikagu week 2018. Day 3: Routine

Disclaimer: I don't own Gintama or its characters. Sorachi Hideaki does. I only own this story.

 **A day without China girl is a day wasted**

It had really become a routine for them. Every day, sometimes at noon, sometimes at night, they met there, at the park. It wasn't something they tried to hide from others. Hell, people could watch them go all they liked and neither Sougo nor Kagura would mind.

They were loud, especially Kagura, her voices carried all over the park. They got sweaty, messy, it wasn't pretty, but they liked doing it. A lot. Both were very passionate during their encounters, passionate to win. You know I'm talking about their sparring, right?

After one tiring late-evening fight they were laying on the grass, next to each other. Kagura watched Sougo's heaving chest and she rolled on her stomach. Sougo had his hands under his head, eyes resting for a moment. "Sadist?"

"What?"

"Nothing."

Sougo chuckled and opened his eyes to look at her. She puffed her cheeks adorably. Her thighs were on the ground but her legs were up and crossed. "What's on your mind?"

Kagura pondered for a moment, fiddling her fingers. "I just had fun today, I got to beat you up really good too." He shrugged his shoulders a bit. "Are you suggesting that you won, huh?"

"Maybe." Sougo and grinned at her. She threw a soft punch to his arm. "Ouch," he said and pretended to be in pain. Kagura laughed too, sweetly as ever. They had been rivals for years, but as both Sougo and Kagura grew up, matured a bit, their rivalry developed more into a friends with benefits kind of relationship (by benefits they ment a powerful sparring partner).

Sougo had almost died from laughter as Kagura had called them friends with benefits in front of Gintoki. The poor samurai ripped his JUMP in half. It took a while to calm him down. Kagura was obviously red with embarrassment as Gintoki explained to her what friends with benefits meant. She hadn't uttered those words after that.

"Sadist?"

"What?" he asked. "Nothing again?"

"Hmph, stop teasing dumbass." she said. "Do you know what day tomorrow is?"

"Yes." he said and Kagura's eyes softened a bit.

"You do-aru?"

"It's your birthday China."

Kagura smiled and her cheeks were flushed. She was surprised and happy that he knew. Maybe he had recently heard from someone or maybe he remembered, either way, Kagura was glad.

"Gin-chan, Shinpachi and Angeo have planned something nice for me, so I can't come tomorrow, you know...here," Kagura said.

Sougo sat up, one arm resting on his knee. "We have some kind of big operation tomorrow so it's fine," he said and looked up the evening sky. "I'll test your new "birthday-powers" on the day after tomorrow."

Kagura looked up too with a small smile. "Be prepared Sadist."

With those words both got up from the ground, waved a small goodbye and went to their homes.

Sougo was sitting on the park bench, waiting for Kagura to come. The previous day had been very consuming and he was in desperate need of his rival's company. He had waited for a rough half an hour. It was weird to wait for Kagura as she was usually the first one at the park. Sometimes with her giant dog, sometimes alone.

He observed the people on the park, eyes searching for a spunky vermillion. An hour passed by, then another, still no China. Sougo was getting frustrated and maybe a tiny bit concerned. This wasn't like China, not at all. Sougo head Hijikata calling him through his radiophone.

"Oi, Sougo! I hope you're patrolling and not napping somewhere?" Hijikata said on the device. Sougo was too pissed to answer him. He only managed to mutter to himself and curse Hijikata's name.

"Sougo! Answer me!" Hijikata said. "Well whatever, get your ass here as fast as you can, we have a situation here at the compound."

Sougo spared a glance at his radiophone. He thought that he might as well go, apparently China wasn't coming as promised. "Hijibaka-san, go die," Sougo said and got up from the bench. Maybe China would come tomorrow, he thought to himself, maybe she the Yorozuya got some urgent job or something.

"What the hell Sougo? Is that a yes?" Hijikata yelled through the radiophone.

Sougo was in the park again, walking around aimlessly. It was the seventh day, THE SEVENTH, that Kagura hadn't showed up. He had come to the conclusion that something was wrong or she was a complete idiot. For reason unknown to Sougo, Kagura had broken their daily routine, the routine that brought Sougo some balance in his life. Seeing China's smile and letting out steam with her made him quite happy. He missed that feeling.

Sougo's subordinates paid the price of his distraught. He made them train with him long into the night. If Hijikata hadn't come and stop the endless training, no-one would have gotten any sleep.

As much as it felt lame to admit it, he didn't only miss sparring with her, he missed her. After the seventh no-show she made Sougo had enough. "China, if you aren't coming to me, I'm coming to you."

The Yorozuya shop wasn't far away from the park, so he decide to go there. It was mid-day and he figured that Kagura had to be home.

Sougo leaped the stairs leading up to Yorozuya Gin-chan's. He banged the door a couple of times. A man's voice answered, sounded like Shimura-kun. The door opened. "Okita-san!"

"Yeah, good day! Is China here?"

Shinpachi hesitated for a moment, but then he called him. "Gin-san!"

Sougo kept his face straight, not letting a drip of emotion through. Gintoki groaned from the living-room and slowly made his way to the door. "What is it? Oh, Souichiro-kun."

"He's asking for Kagura-chan," Shinpachi said quietly and Gintoki's facial expression shifted. He was usually almost as deadpanned as Sougo himself, but now he was something else. Serious? Angry? Protective?

"Not available," he said bluntly.

"Okay, when is she available then?" Sougo asked, voice staying calm.

Gintoki sighed. "She doesn't want to see you."

Sougo's didn't even blink, but it felt like his insides were crushed. An overwhelming feeling crushing his stomach. Then he saw a glimpse of vermillion behind a corner. She slipped away as fast as he had seen her.

"Great," Sougo said. "I'll get going then, later."

Sougo walked the stairs down and made his way home. He wanted to take a nap, thinking felt too complicated at that moment. _("She doesn't want to see you.")_ What had happened to her?

Gintoki closed the front door and he and Shinpachi returned to the living-room. Kagura was sitting on the floor, leaning to a wall close to the hallway. She had a glum face. Gintoki glanced at his foster-daughter. "It's best for you."

"Leave her alone Gin-san," Shinpachi said.

Gintoki shrugged and sat down behind his desk, ready to continue his JUMP. "How do you know what's best for me?" Kagura asked almost angrily.

"Kagura, like I told you on your birthday, you're a grown woman now and capable of making your own decisions."

"Exactly! So why can't I see Sadist?"

Gintoki shook his head. "Men that age are after one thing only, and he's the worst possible company for you."

Kagura got up from the floor stormed off to her closet.

Shinpachi looked Gintoki without saying a word. "What?"

"I think you're being too hard on Kagura-chan, she just wants to see her friend."

"Well, that might be true, but you aren't going to be killed by a monstrous baldie if some guy uses or hurts Kagura."

Kagura listened thought her door as the two men continued to discuss about her. As much as Kagura loved Gintoki, she didn't like the fact that he was trying to control her life. She had been independent for a long time. She didn't know everything there was to know about life, but so what, she thought to herself.

She wondered if Sougo had waited for her at the park. Kagura felt like shit for breaking their routine, she needed it too, just as much as he did. Then a plan came to her, a plan to get out of the house, alone. Kagura exited her room and went to the bathroom. Her master plan was quite simple, escape through the bathroom window.

What drove her to such lengths of sneaking out behind Gintoki's back. Well, it was quite obvious, she missed talking with him, she missed sparring with him, she missed him. Kagura unhooked her hair ornaments and let her long hair flow free. She used the ornaments to distract Gintoki and Shinpachi.

Kagura opened the bathroom door slightly and threw the ornaments on the hallway. "I'm going to take a bath now!" she announced and closed the door again. She didn't hear any complaints on the matter, the plan was flawless in her mind. Kagura carefully slid though the window and jumped down like an agile cat.

The sun was still shining and Kagura didn't have her umbrella with her. She had to calculate her movement with dark allies and large shadows. Meanwhile Gintoki picked up Kagura's hair ornaments. He saw her towel hanging in the living-room, something seemed off about her sudden bath. "Hmm...a bath my ass."

Gintoki picked the bathroom lock open and kicked the door open. No Kagura anywhere. Then he saw the small window wide open. Gintoki sighed deeply and scratched his head. "Shinpachi! We have to go, now!"

Sougo was supposed to go home, but he had wandered into the park again. He sat under a large tree, minding his own business, taking a nap. He had his red sleeping mask on, blocking some of the bright sunlight from him.

Kagura was running as fast as she could. She was certain that Sougo would be there, at the park, waiting again. Then she saw him, under the tree. Kagura slowed his pace and tiptoed closer to him. She noticed that he was sleeping. Kagura smiled at the innocent looking Sougo and gently sat right next to him.

Kagura wasn't usually that bold, she didn't even realize before her "man-ban" that how much she wanted to spend time with him. Kagura flicked her wild hair towards him, hoping to tickle him a bit. A success. Sougo felt something touching him and he angrily yanked his sleeping mask off.

Sougo's heart jumped at the unexpected sight. "China!" he said. "You're here."

"Uh-huh."

Sougo rubbed his eyes and frowned at her. "But Danna said that you didn't want to see me."

"Lies," Kagura said plainly. "Now that I'm 18, he forbid me from spending time with young horny men like you."

Sougo laughed nervously at first, but Kagura's cheerful laughter made his feel and sound more normal. Kagura wiped the corner of her eyes from a laughter tear. "But, I'm sorry for not showing up."

"I understand now, it's just that..." Sougo said, stopping midway his sentence.

"What?"

"Why are you here now? How?"

"I escaped through the bathroom window," she said and winked. Sougo chuckled a little.

"That explains how, but not why."

Kagura played with her hair, mustering up her braveness to tell him. "I-I missed you okay. Don't laugh or I'll kill you."

Sougo's eyes brightened up from her bold confession to him. "I missed you too China."

Kagura turned her eyes to her lap and she used her hair to hide the ever spreading blush. Sougo admired her hair, it was rare to see it wild and open like that. He pushed a thick strand of hair behind her ear to see her face better.

"I feel so lame," Kagura muttered

"Me too, wanna be lame together?" he murmured.

Kagura smiled and nodded bashfully. Sougo offered his hand to her. She placed her hand on his gently. They interlaced their fingers together naturally. The simple affection made her heart race. Both looked at each other with a stupid smiles on their faces.

"KAGURAA! SOFA-KUN! HANDS OFF HER!" Gintoki shouted from a small distance.

"Come on Sadist!" Kagura shouted and sprang them both off the ground. She dragged him by his hand on the opposite direction of Gintoki. "NOPE!" Was Kagura's answer to Gintoki's order.

Sougo laughed at the unpredictable girl leading them somewhere. He turned to look at the raging Gintoki. "I can't let go! I'm too horny!" Sougo shouted to push the samurai off the ledge of sanity. Kagura squeezed his hand tighter and giggled. "Where are we going China?"

Kagura fastened their running pace. "I don't know."

Sougo shook his head. "That's a great plan, I like it." Kagura flashed her smile at him as they continued to escape the enraged Gintoki.


End file.
